Stagecoach invited Natasha Hamilton to their depot in Merseyside to try her hand at driving a bus.Stagecoach MCSL

Atomic Kitten star Natasha Hamilton got behind the wheel of a Stagecoach bus in Liverpool as part of a recruitment campaign by the local bus operator.

The singer – who has had a host of hit songs including 13 top ten singles – took to the driving seat at the company’s Gillmoss depot to highlight the career options the bus industry can offer working mums.

Natasha Hamilton, who has four children, continues to have a successful music and theatre career and is currently touring the UK as part of Fat Friends The Musical.

The ‘Whole Again’ singer drove a bus for the first time alongside Stagecoach training instructor Sue Hazel who has worked with the company for 32 years.

Currently, only around 10% of Stagecoach Merseyside employees are female, and the operator is keen to attract more women into the industry.

Natasha said: “I’m so excited that I’ve just driven a bus for the first time in my life! Obviously, it’s a lot different to driving a car but once I got the hang of it and got used to the size of the bus, I really enjoyed it and I have so much respect for the Stagecoach drivers that do this day in, day out.

“As a working mum, I think it’s important that women who want to get back into work after having children have the opportunity to do that – employers like Stagecoach can offer a stable job, decent salary and flexibility around shifts where possible so, even though women might have thought in the past that bus driving was a job for men, that’s absolutely not the case anymore. If I can do it, so can they!”

Managing director for Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire, Rob Jones, said: “We’re aiming to have a more diverse employee base which better reflects society and will benefit our customers. We can offer a great career opportunity for both women and men, and we already have a fantastic team of employees who do a great job.

“We’d like to encourage more women into our workforce and just to let people know that there are no barriers preventing women from working in the bus industry. It’s been brilliant having Natasha with us and the feedback I’ve had is that she was a natural behind the wheel.”

Stagecoach Bus is one of the UK’s major employers, supporting around 24,000 jobs across the UK and 1,209 jobs in Merseyside and South Lancashire. Over 200 people have completed apprenticeships with Stagecoach since 2004 and the company currently employs around 150 apprentices. All Stagecoach vehicles are fitted with eco-driving systems which lower emissions and the company has shown the biggest commitment to using 100 per cent biofuel of any UK bus operator.

Stagecoach is part of Liverpool City Region’s Bus Alliance, a partnership between Liverpool’s biggest bus operators and Merseytravel. The Alliance is focussed on quality of vehicles and customer service, value for money journeys and straightforward travel from simple fare structures to easy to understand journey planning and a clear, simple bus network.

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We’re a friendly bunch of transport enthusiasts with a passion for documenting the current bus scene in North West England, North Wales and Isle of Man.
Our articles are primarily focused on the current bus and coach scene in the two large conurbations of Merseyside and Greater Manchester, with feature posts from Cheshire, Cumbria, Lancashire and even further afield like Scotland and London too.